Outstanding Passover Recipes

A healthy and nutritious menu everyone will love.

Passover is in the air! Here's a healthy and nutritious menu, including a variety of salads and not much frying. Avail yourself of fresh fruits and vegetables whenever possible. With a little ingenuity, one can easily create great healthy meals aiding to avoid the unnecessary weight gain that seems almost inevitable every Passover.

Sauté chopped leeks in olive oil on a medium flame until soft about 10 minutes, add brown sugar and lemon juice and allow to caramelize for another 10 minutes. Place salmon fillets over this mixture and broil for 10 minutes on each side. Remove from oven and serve, or allow to cool and cover for later use. Tastes great hot or at room temperature.

Serves 6

Preparation 20 minutes

Matzah Ball Chicken Soup

What's Passvoer without chicken soup and matzah balls?

Some like their soup full of vegetables while others serve it clear. Some serve soup with lots of little matzah balls while others like one per bowl. Whichever way you enjoy it here is a delightful recipe that can accommodate every taste.

Ingredients

1 (4- to 5-pound) chicken, cut into quarters or if you prefer use chicken carcasses at 1 per quart of water
2 to 3 celery ribs, chopped or a small celery root
1 onion, cut into quarters
2 cloves garlic
1 parsnip
1 turnip or parsley root
3 to 4 carrots
2 zucchini
Sea salt, to taste
White pepper, to taste

Directions

Bring chicken and 6 quarts cold water to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove foam with a slotted spoon as it rises to the top. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 1 hour.

Add celery and next 6 ingredients. Cover and simmer 2 more hours, for a strong chicken flavor.

Allow to cool. Skim fat. Remove chicken from bones, and return meat to soup. If using the carcass remove them from the pot and reserve for other dishes. Add matzah balls, and serve.

Matzah Balls

The best matzah balls are made with the Passover matzah meal. Their texture is special while the color is somewhat darker than with regular matzah meal.

3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add matzah balls gently to boiling water, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Matzah balls can also be cooked in the chicken soup for added flavor

Prep: 30 minutes

Chill: 1 hour 20 minutes;

Cook: 20 minutes.

Yields 20 yummy matzah balls

For those that do not Matzah balls during the first days of Pesach, take some of the blintz sheets and slice very thinly and add some strands to the bowl of chicken soup.

As an alternative, I use stranded spaghetti squash as a healthy substitute for noodles.

Chuck Eye Roast

Chuck eye roast is a very tender roast that is tasty and soft. However, feel free to choose your favorite cut of meat, such as minute steak, Miami ribs, or butcher flanken for equally tantalizing results.

Directions Place onions on bottom of roasting pan. Place roast over onions. Combine remaining ingredients and smear over all sides of meat. Bake covered 2-3 hours at 350°. (Generally, I calculate ½ hour per lb. of meat), serve over a bed of mashed potatoes, or nokedlech.

Preparation 20 minutes

Serves 8-12

Nokedlech- Dumplings

This recipe became a real winner in our family, it is easy to make and complements any soup as well as any meat, poultry or mock tomato sauce, feel free to double the recipe and keep it on hand to use at a later meal, as it freezes very well.

Combine mashed potatoes with eggs, salt and pepper. Add potato starch until mixture forms sticky dough. Boil salted water in large pot to allow for nokedlech to expand and drop tiny bits of dough into boiling water, passing it through a square holed potato grater is a good and foolproof idea, as pieces will be more even; simmer for twenty minutes so water will not run out. Nokedlech tend to rise to the top of the water. After 20 minutes of cooking, remove with a slotted spoon. Great mashed potato makeover.

Serve with roast chicken, roast or meat loaf gravy.

Preparation 10 minutes

Serves 8-10

Chicken Nuggets

This is one of the most popular dishes with kids as well as adults. It is from the few dishes that I deem necessary to fry, because it is so delicious. Serve hot or cold

Directions Mix together the eggs, potato starch, salt and oil.
Cut the chicken into nugget-sized pieces and dip into the batter. Fry in oil until done.
***Note: If the batter seems a little thick, add a few drops of water. If too thin, a little more potato starch dissolved in a tiny bit of cold water. This mixture can also be used to coat fish, eggplant, zucchini or sweet potato or your favorite vegetable.)

Sweet and Sour sauce

½ cup red cooking wine
¼ cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
Bring to a boil, and pour over the chicken nuggets, or use as a dipping sauce.
Note: Use this mixture whenever sweet and sour sauce is called for.

Passover Specialty Layered Salad

Every year I end up with too much grated maror- horseradish, so one year I decided to put my leftovers of the bitter herb to good use. I discovered that maror's sharpness could give some punch to salads and dips. Delight your company with this wonderful and elegant salad that is almost a whole meal in one dish.

To prepare the dressing, combine the first 7 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Set aside.

To prepare the salad, arrange the romaine in the bottom of a 2-quart glass bowl or trifle dish; top with iceberg. Layer radicchio, endive, cucumber, kohlrabi, carrot, peeled tomato, and red onion, evenly over lettuces. Drizzle with dressing. Cover and chill 4 hours or overnight.

Before serving arrange beets over red onions; top with eggs. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Preparation 45 minutes

Serves 10

Kohlrabi, Carrot, Squash slaw

Kohlrabi is a good substitute for cabbage, which lends itself in many delectable dishes and being part of the cruciferous family has the same healthy properties.

Grate kohlrabi, carrots squash and moror. Cut onion in strips and toss lightly. Serve over your favorite green salad, or as is. You may also stir-fry these ingredients and serve it as a side dish for fish or meat.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Serves 2-4 people

Kosher for Passover Mayonnaise

This mayonnaise is easy to make and it is a real winner with young and old. It is great for a salad dressing. I make two batches because I have many uses for it.

Blend 5 first ingredients in a food processor with the all purpose blade, until well mixed. Add 2 cups oil slowly, until mixture thickens. Add oil if needed.

With lemon juice, it will last up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

Yield: approximately 3 cups

Preparation: 10 minutes

Never Fail Blintzes Sheets

This recipe has become standard in our circle of friends because it never fails and yields at least 50 perfect blintzes that can be used in a variety of recipes. Use them thinly cut in the soup, or fill them with your favorite vegetable filling, chicken, minced meat or whatever else you have on hand. These blintzes freeze well and can be adapted even for cheese blintzes, when substituting the salt for sugar. Make sure the ones frying the blintzes don’t eat them all up.

Ingredients

24 eggs
2 tsp salt
½ cup oil
2 cups water
2 cups sifted potato starch

Directions

Whisk eggs salt and oil until well blended. In a separate container mix potato starch and water and then blend both mixtures. Ladle out a small amount to cover a heated oiled crepe pan. I usually use two pans to get faster results. They get done in 2 minutes, and need to be turned over for 1-2 minutes longer.

Preparation 20 minutes

Yields 50 perfect blintzes

Filling for Potato blintzes

This recipe was brought to us by our daughter who adapted it from her mother in law.

Sauté onions until translucent, cook potatoes until tender mash and mix with onions, beaten eggs and salt until smooth. Fill blintzes with this mixture .These blintzes freeze very well. To warm up, remove from freezer and fry in oil before serving, or warm up in the oven, for a dietetic version.

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About the Author

Gitta Bixenspanner is a certified nutritionist who lives in Montreal with her husband. She teaches high school, seminary and give inspiring adult education classes in Jewish topics. As a certified nutritionist she gives cooking seminars, the main purpose being to teach people to adopt healthier lifestyles in keeping with the mitzvah of taking care of our bodies.

Visitor Comments: 19

(17)
Fran,
March 27, 2014 2:00 AM

recipe for pesach kugel

Does anyone know the recipe for a matzoh meal kugel made with wine & sugar that is cooked in a small pot inside a Peach cholent?My mother-in-law used to make this delicious kugel, but the recipe is gone with her.

(16)
Anonymous,
March 26, 2014 1:59 AM

where to add the sugar for the Choc. Ice cream

I have read this recipe several times looking for where to add the sugar in the directions for the Choc. Ice Cream. Is it cooked in with the potato starch & cocoa?

Fran,
March 27, 2014 1:57 AM

sugar in choc ice cream

I would beat !/4C sugar with the yolks, and gradually add the rest while beating the whites. That will thicken both mixtures, and give the whites more body.

(15)
Anonymous,
April 4, 2012 5:21 AM

great recipies with a welcome new twist

PLOTZING IS READING THESE YUMMIES, BUT UNABLE TO PRINT THEM. I'M SALIVATING!!!
PRINTER WON'T BE PUT ON UNTIL THE PAINTER IS DONE.

I used the Never Fail Blintzes Sheets recipe to make noodles for my chicken soup. The noodles were wonderful--much better than the Passover noodles you can buy at the store. Mine did not come out as smooth as the ones in the picture, but they tasted great. I wish I knew how you got the blintzes so smooth. Maybe yours are thicker than mine.

Gitta,
March 12, 2013 8:23 PM

trick

I use a hand blender or mixer to do the mixture and it does come out smooth when warmed over.

(12)
cindy marquez,
April 18, 2011 5:22 AM

love the salmon with leeks sauce love all the recipes ..may everyone have a peaceful and blessed passover...

(11)
Judy Levy,
April 8, 2011 4:28 PM

What is the total volume of grated vegetables needed for the vegetable nut patties?

Interested in trying the vegetable nut patties!

(10)
Ady,
April 7, 2011 12:44 PM

Wow

Wow what a variety you have here. My Rabbi taught me that you could only have - Whole Lamb, Half Lamb, or a leg of Lamb with no broken bones, according to the number of people you where to have at Pesach, but here you show that you can vary it to some degree. Thanks for that as it has simplified it for us.

(9)
judie Singer,
March 29, 2010 3:05 AM

Your recipes sound delicious. will have to try them for next year. You should put them on the internet much earlier. thanks for your recipes. Happy Passover.........

(8)
Denise,
March 21, 2010 2:56 PM

Great easy recipes

It's wonderful to find easy yet gourmet recipes. These are some of the best Pesach recipes I've seen on the web or in my cookbook collection.

(7)
Anonymous,
March 20, 2010 6:12 PM

What a time saver!

Thanks for posting these recipes! It's such a help to have a good collection of pesach recipes all together in one place, so I don't have to spend so long sifting through all my cook books! I found other great time saving tips and ideas here. Hope this helpful! Happy Pesach preperations to all!

(6)
Anonymous,
March 17, 2010 7:26 PM

Any recepie for Santa Fe Chicken Salad dressing???

Hi. These are really really great recepies. Thanx for posting it. I was wondering if anybody has the recepie for Santa Fe chicken Salad dressing. Not necessarily for Passover but Parve for everyday use. If anybody has it i would really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Wishing everybody a Happy and healthy Passover....

(5)
Gitta Bixenspanner,
March 15, 2010 4:12 PM

corrections

My sincere apologies for omissions; here are some corrections and answers to questions.
The ice cream should have 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Eggs should be beaten until stiff peaks form, add last to cooked mixture and egg yolks mixture.
Those who prefer not to use wine, can try to substitute with lemon juice.
For the vegetable patties use as many grated vegetable as you think you need; for 8 patties grate 1 medium size of each vegetable.
Happy cooking!

(4)
Katherine Lipkin,
March 15, 2010 4:16 AM

Not so heart healthy!!!!

The recipes sound great, but some of them fall right back into the 8 Days of Cholesterol that Passover is known for. Can egg whites be substituted for the whole eggs?

(3)
Anonymous,
March 14, 2010 6:46 PM

what can be substituted?

Your recipes sound delicious and I hope to try several this year.
But I have a problem: I am not able to have any wine because of an allergy of sorts, and wonder what could be used to substitute for the wine vinegar you use in several of the recipes and would still be kosher l'Pesach....
Thanks for the treats I anticipate enjoying this Pesach!

(2)
Anonymous,
March 14, 2010 6:23 PM

The recipes look great but the chocolate ice cream needs sweetener. How much sugar? Also what do you do with the egg whites. Not specified. Please respond. Thank you so much.

(1)
Anonymous,
March 14, 2010 4:16 PM

Chocolate Ice "Cream" recipe question

The directions include "lastly, add nuts" but there are no nuts in the list of ingredients. What kind of nuts, how many, how prepared? Thank you for the clarification.